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The boy's parents were worried McLeod, who had initially contacted their son via an online Playstation game, was involved in his disappearance.

Authorities were alerted to the boy's disappearance and police immediately gained the legal permissions required to track his cell phone.

Intercepted: Due to some quick detective work, California police were able to alert their Tampa counterparts to the kidnapping and local police were at Tampa International Airport when the plane with McLeod and the boy landed

They tracked McLeod to Long Beach, California, before learning that he had boarded a non-stop flight for Tampa with the eighth grader.

It's unclear exactly how McLeod lured the boy onto the six-hour-plus flight, but police say he is a 'very sophisticated predator'.

'It's mind-boggling...this person was particularly bold,' said Major Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police force.

When the plane landed at 6:09am Tuesday, Tampa authorities were on the tarmac to arrest McLeod and take the boy into protection.

'I think when you go to a different state and you bring a 14-year-old boy back - and you're an adult and the cops are waiting for you on the runway...I think the gig is up,' said Dugan.

McLeod is charged with kidnapping, interfering with custody, traveling to meet a minor and transmission of harmful material to a minor.

'This case originally came to our attention because of the family
monitoring the young man's phone, and even then this happened, which
just goes as a warning that you cannot monitor your children closely
enough when it comes to the internet,' an officer with Escondido
Police Department told 10 News.

'When it comes to the phone, they literally have the
world available to them.'

Child's play: Video games aren't just the realm of children, and it was through an online game that 36-year-old McLeod initially made contact with the teenager he eventually flew to Florida with (FILE PHOTO)

At McLeod's condo right across the road from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, crime scene technicians and detectives searched for clues.

'This kid, no one knows what was going to happen to him here in Tampa,' Dugan said.

McLeod's neighbors were shocked by the news.

'He seemed like a nice guy. It's messed up; people are messed up,' said one to 10 News.